“El Chapo” to appear in federal court in person

Prosecutors describe Guzmán as the overseer of a 3-decade campaign of smuggling, brutality and corruption that fueled an epidemic of cocaine abuse and related violence in the U.S.

Mexican drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán is to be in federal court in person Friday in New York.

A judge ruled last week that Guzmán would appear in court by video rather than have marshals escort him to and from a high-security Manhattan jail cell. But his lawyers asked the judge to reconsider. A new order was issued Wednesday February 1.

Prosecutors describe Guzmán as the overseer of a three-decade campaign of smuggling, brutality and corruption that fueled an epidemic of cocaine abuse and related violence in the U.S. in the 1980s and ’90s. The defense says it hasn’t seen any evidence of illegal acts.

To get Mexico to hand him over to the U.S., prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty. They’re demanding he forfeit US$14 billion in assets.